Holdback for vehicles



(No Model.)

HOLDBAGK FOR VEHICLES. No. 266,049. Patented O0t.1.7, 1882.'

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ORLANDO V. PRICE, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

HOLDBACK FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 266,049, dated October 17, 1882.

Application filed January 23, 1882.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ORLANDO V. PRICE, of Cleveland, in the county of Guy-ahogaand State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Safety Holdback-StrapAttachments, of which the following is a description.

The device or attachment above alluded to consists of a metal shell or case open at one end and closed at the other. In the shell is a slide or bolt provided with a stem, around which is coiled a spring for moving the bolt out of the open end of the case or shell, that it may impinge upon a hook to prevent a ring from being detached therefrom.

A further and morefull description of the device is as follows, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side view of the holdback attachment, partially in section. Fig. 2is a plan view. Fig. 3 is a transverse section.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several views.

In the drawings, A represents the shell or case above referred to, and B the slide. 0 is the stem for holding in position the spring D, whereby the slide is forced out of the end of the case, that it may impinge upon the hook E, as shown in Fig. 1. Said hook is an integral part of the end of the case.

It will be observed that the point a of the slide recedes from the end of the hook, thereby forming a notch, F, in its relation to the end of the hook, the purpose of which will presently be shown.

G is a plate upon which the slide moves and forms a bottom to the case. One end of the plate is in any suitable manner made fast to the extension F of the case. The opposite end of the plate turns upward, forming a lip, b, which, together with the end of the case, serves as an abutment for the end of the spring to react on.

The plate is not an essential element of the device, as it may be used without it. It is pre-. ferred, however, to usethe plate.

In hitching a horse to the thills of a carriage it is customary, as a matter of safety, to secure the breeching of the harness to the thills by means of thill-straps, which are wrapped several times around the thill and then buckled (No model.)

into a ring of the breeching of the harness. This, as ordinarily done, takes some time, especially if the holdback-straps are taken away with the harness and not left on the thills, as they sometimes are.

It is not unusual on nnhitching a horse from a buggy to forget to detach a holdback-strap, in which event the animal, on moving out of the thills, is frightened by dragging the vehicle by the thill-strap, causing him to run or tread upon the thills and break them. To avoid such accident is the purpose of my invention, the practical use of which is as follows:

To the upper side of each thill, at or near the place where the thill-straps are usually made fast thereto, is secured one of the attachments by screws inserted through the extensions F and H of the shell, and in such relation to the thill that the hook E will be toward the carriage. New, on hitching the horse in the thills, the thill-strap hanging from the breeching is taken and the ring I thereof hooked onto the hook E by placing the edge of the ring in the notch F, and by a little pressure on the point a of the slide said slide will be forced back into the case far enough to permit the ring to slip down upon the hook, as seen in Fig. l, which will be about the position of the ring when the straps are hitched to the thills. It will be obvious that this hitching of the strap to the thills is easily and quickly done, and avoids the necessity of wrapping the strap around the thill, as the strap cannot become detached therefrom without pushing back the slide into the case. When taking the horse from the carriage no attention need be given to the holdback-straps, as they will become detached from the thills as the animal moves out of them by virtue of the straps drawing the ring against the slide, as indicated by the dotted lines a, which will push the slide back into the case and let the ring escape from the hook.

From the above it will be evident that in theevent the horse should run away with the vehicle and the traces become detached from the whiffletree the carriage cannot be dragged along by the thill-straps, as they will become instantly detached from the thills by a light pull upon them, as above described. The operative parts of the attachment for being in closed in the case are fully protected from mud, snow, 850., so that they will not be ohstructed and rendered inoperative thereby. In the base or side of the case I make an opening, that rain, dust, &c., may escape from the interior and allow the slide and spring to work freely.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In carriages, a safety holdback'strap attachment consisting of a slide, 13, provided with a point or projection, a, and spring, in combination with a shell or case provided with a hook having its upper end so shaped as to form a notch, F, when said end is in contact with the 15 ORLANDO V. PRICE.

Vitnesses:

J. H. BURRIDGE, W. H. WOODARD. 

